Pawns and Players
by Kodel Cri
Summary: The main reason Shinji was manipulated so easily was because he almost never knew what was going on. What if he did?


Disclaimer: I do not own any part of anything related to Evangelion or Gainax. This is a work of fan-fiction and is not intended to be distributed for any sort of profit.  
  
Now that that's out of the way, welcome to my first attempt at fan-fiction. Please read and review. This series coincides pretty much with the entire main plot line, except with the differences that will become apparent as the story goes on. I will try to keep every character as close to their original design as possible, except Shinji of course. This storyline is PG- 13 for several vague allusions to nudity and several lines of a sexual nature. Again, please read and review. I do ask that you not whine about incredibly specific points that I change (e.g. You put the couch is the wrong place! You can clearly see in the anime its exactly 6.4 meters from the front door of their apartment!) That seems like a stupid point, but sadly, I did not make that line up.  
  
Oh yeah, obviously this work contains an ocean of spoilers, as it follows the main anime plot line almost exactly, starting from just after the defeat of the second Angel  
  
Chapter 1 "Opening Moves"  
  
Shinji Ikari walked listlessly through the hallways of his school. Another monotonous day, he thought to himself. The sensei never talks about anything except the Second Impact. If they brought in a statue and place a tape recorder in it, no one would probably be able to tell the difference. Even the work outside wasn't terribly interesting. The fourth Angel still lay where it fell, the monster now looking more like a gigantic circus tent that a biological entity, as it had long ago been covered by the enormous pale green tarp.  
  
Inside his box was what looked like a small black composition notebook. Lying atop it were two small SDAT tapes. None of the items were his.  
  
He glanced left and right, looking for anyone who might be watching him. There was the usual milling mass of students leaving, but nothing jumped out at him as unusual. He turned to his box, and pulled out the notebook, flipping the pages.  
  
The entire thing was blank.  
  
What's this? He wondered.  
  
He realized he was starting to get noticed, and quickly shoved the tapes and the journal into his backpack. Slinging it on his shoulder, he walked home  
  
Entering the apartment, he heard the sound of running water. Looking over, he saw the silhouette of a naked Misato in the apartment shower. He felt his cheeks start to glow, turning away.  
  
She's nuts! Anyone could just walk in. he thought to himself. Shrugging, he wandered into his room and flopped onto the bed in the corner. Reaching into his back pack, he drew out the two tapes to inspect them more closely. Both were numbered, in thick black permanent marker. Pulling out his SDAT player, he pushed the tape marked 1 into the player. I have some time until Misato finished and asked him to make breakfast. Might as well find out who's playing the joke on me. He thought to himself. He pressed play, listening to the player click and beep as it calibrated the tape tracks.  
  
Misato flopped into her favorite chair, a Yasubi already half drained in her right hand. "Ahhhhh! There's nothing like a good beer after a long, hot shower." Her stomach rumbled to digress. "Except maybe some dinner." She glanced over at the chart, and sure enough, in stenciled writing under Dinner: Mon, was Shinji. "Hey Shinji! Come out and make some grub! I heard you come in!"  
  
Silence followed her call.  
  
Mildly concerned, Misato got out of the chair and walked towards the Third Childs room and slid open the door, flooding the dark room with the glow of the hall lights. Shinji was propped up on his bed, chin in his hand, intently concentrating on what must've been his SDAT. He was so wrapped in whatever he was listening to he didn't hear the door open, much less notice light suddenly flood the room  
  
"Shinji?" no response. She waited another moment, then walked over to the bed and poked Shinji in the arm. His eyes snapped wider and his head jerked to look at her. He removed one of his ear pieces, clicking the SDAT off. "Yes?" "What're you listening to? I've been calling you for a couple of minutes to make dinner." "Sorry. It's rather absorbing." His voice was a little strained, upset that he'd been interrupted. "What is it?" "Nothing." He chuckled "Just a really good book on tape." "What book?" "Hound of the Baskervilles. Noticed it at the library. Never actually listened to any Holmes before, so I thought I'd give it a whirl."  
  
".. I see. Well boy, you best get cracking. I'm not letting you stay here for free you know!" She stuck out her tongue a bit to show she was teasing. Shinji smiled faintly up at her "Yes ma'am." She didn't notice the smile slide off his face and the sneer replace it the moment he was a step past her.  
  
"Misato?" Shinji asked partway through the meal "Yeah?" "Why were you selected as Operations Officer?" This caught her off guard, and she became defensive "What do you mean? Do you not like my commandership?" She snapped a little too hard, but Ikari didn't seem to notice "Well, I would think that the officer for this kind of campaign would be someone more familiar with urban warfare. No ones familiar with the kind of enemy, but all the Angels so far are based on hand-to-hand or melee combat. I wouldn't have been surprised if the supervisor had been a high dan marital arts instructor."  
  
Misato felt her eyes slowly grow wider as Shinji gave his speech. He had only been in a single fight, and suddenly he thought he had basic knowledge of tactical warfare? Would did he think he was. "I was chosen because I was the best. What makes you think I don't have that sort of experience?" she hissed almost through clenched teeth.  
  
Shinji sat there and blinked at her a few times "Misato.." He said, apparently trying to repress a chuckle "You're 25. You haven't had any experience against any kind of opponent, Angel or human. There isn't enough knowledge of Angels to formulate base tactics either, so why were you picked?" This flabbergasted Misato. Less than three days ago, the Shinji she had met had had a spine made of gelatin, but now he had a personality more like a probing police investigator. "I. I don't know. I was appointed by you father." It might have been in her head, but she was almost sure she heard Shinji's nails scrape across the underside of the table. After a moment, Shinji nodded. "Okay. I was just curious. I hope I didn't offend you." Misato sat back in her chair, suddenly aware that she had risen partway out of it. Suddenly she grabbed a beer and drained it in one long draw. "Even with your stamina, that might be approaching your limit." "Don't worry about me, boy."  
  
As Misato continued with the binge, Shinji became aware, even with the alcohol tolerance of a half Irish-half Russian sailor, she was slowly becoming delirious. I must've cut deeper than I thought. He thought to himself. Even as she stumbled into her room and fumbled the light off, Shinji sat on the couch, listening to the first tape, his sneer slowly deepening. As the voice on the tape droned on, Shinji didn't know whether he wanted to scream in rage or burst into tears. It couldn't be true. None of it could. Suddenly he was aware of a presence almost atop of him, slowly pushing him down onto the couch cushions. Panic gripped him as he clipped the SDAT off. "Kaji." Misato murmured faintly, pressing her lips to Shinji's. He was so surprised he didn't know what was happening, until he returned her embrace. They were both lying on the plush couch until Misato broke off the kiss, laying her head down on his chest. Shinji, almost without thought, shifted slightly, moving his arm, and began to stroke her long purple hair. After a few moments in silence, he thought he heard Misato weeping. Murmurs of "I'm sorry.. I'm sorry." seeped to his ears, sharper due to the dead quiet. He didn't mind. He had a lot to think about. Staring at the ceiling, playing the information he had just gathered over and over in his head. A lot to think about. The first moves had already been made, but he was suddenly aware of the game. Still, so much eluded him that he wasn't a player, but his awareness as a piece gave him control. Time to exercise it.  
  
Okay, that went a little better than I thought it would. My grammar when it comes to paragraphs is a little bad, but at least I kept the story going.  
  
Note: Yasubi is a brand name I made up. Whether it's a real type of sake or not, I don't know and could care less. 


End file.
